Scuff & dent insurance - SMART product in UK

[devlin57]

Hello there, this is my first post in the forum - looking forward to my shiny S5 Cabriolet arriving soon!

A quick question, I am interested to know if anyone has heard of SMART (Small Accident Repair Technology) insurance which is being offered by my dealer?

It seems like a good idea in principle
- they will repair any scratch, dent or scuff up to £3k in a 3yr period
- unlimited # of claims with a £25 excess each time up to the £3k claim limit
- so you don't have to claim on your main motor insurance

My dealer has it bundled with a GAP insurance, which isn't so interesting for me. But I found out that it is also available within the first 7 days of buying the car through a 3rd party www.car2cover.co.uk (£269 for 3yrs for a car with list price under £50k); through this I tracked down the company offering the base product which is AutoProtect MBI
- they also offer a version which includes cover for scuffs to the alloy rims, called SMARTProtect Plus

For those still reading, my questions are:
- does anyone have this insurance and have experience of a repair; are they OK?
- does anyone know of a 3rd party broker who will offer the SMART Protect Plus product?



Thanks for your help!

For those interested I've also attached the basic info PDF from Autoprotect

[Mulski]

Hi Devlin, welcome and congrats on the car.

I took out the SMART (Small Accident Repair Technology) insurance from the dealer, and am glad I did. I've had to travel up an down the M40 of late and the bloody road is breaking apart; as a result have got bombared with a number of small stones across the front of the car - one of which has also created a slight dent.

Called the SMART insurance company, they just asked me to take a few pics and email them to them. Got a call back an hour later, saying someone would be in touch to arrange an appointment and later that day a guy rang up to arrange. Very impressed with the speed of the service.

I can't say what the finish is like because its booked next Fri, but they offer you either an afternoon or a morning slot because they book 4 working hour slots.

Only cautionary note I would advise that I didn't pick up on until afterwards is the insurance doesn't cover wheels! Therefore you may wish to consider the 'plus' scheme if your really worried about the wheels.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[ChristopherPovey]

I was offered SMART insurance, but not that one as it did not include the wheels. Though they did offer an alloy wheel and tyre insurance too. In fact I could have spent extra thousands of pounds on hand over day if I was not limited by my budget!!!

I did take my dealership up on it own extended 2 year/60,000 mile warranty for £699. Which is a lot cheaper than Audi's at £1,230 (though Audi's is 90,000 miles. Not a problem for me as I average less than 10,000 miles a year). It also include first MOT warranty. Any work + labour costs from the first MOT would be covered.

[devlin57]

Many thanks Mulski, Chris. I think I will at a minimum go with the standard SMART package and I'm in touch with the dealer and car2cover to find out if they can offer the version with protection for the rims.

Last year we hired for a weekend break an A3 cabriolet to get to know that model better and following a couple of days around the country lanes of Devon and Cornwall there was indeed a nasty new scratch on one of the rims which the rental company picked up on - this of course caused a nice lively discussion in our household about who did it



So insurance against future "kerbings" real or verbal sounds like a good idea to me

I'll post what I find out about the product's availability and pricing

[Shrek]

When I looked into it I wasn't impressed, although please note I've no actual experience.

Basically when I was looking to get the A5 they offered the SMART product and I wasn't sure so I thought, I know I'll get them to point out what they could or couldn't do on my A4, which, in their own words, was in "good condition".

So as I went round pointing out the things I would have wanted done if I had the insurance it was comments like "They can't do it there" (that was on an edge on the bonnet), "They won't do that as that's a double skinned bit" (a very minor dint on the bonnet), "That scratch is too long" (a very light but long scratch along the door where someone had perhaps rubbed a jacket or something, it also ran across two panels).

I think there was one thing that they would have done and the phrasing wasn't great, I think they said something like "They'd have a go at that" which doesn't exactly fill you with confidence.

In the end I didn't get the car from there but even if I had I wouldn't have bothered.

Regards.

[shmee150]

They've offered (and is currently included on my invoice although I don't plan on taking it) me a package for GAP insurance, SMART protection and AutoGlym, but the total is verging on 4 figures and I'm pretty unconvinced by all 3 at the moment.

[devlin57]

So this is what I've found out for those who are interested:

1. My Dealer - no can do to split out SMART insurance
- GAP and SMART are bundled products for them
- they also cannot quote for the SMART Protect Plus that includes wheel rim damage

2. Car2Cover
- SMART is £265 for 3 yrs for a car under £50k, needs to be bought within 7 days of taking ownership of a new car

3. GMC leasing
- SMART Protect Plus is £469 for 3 yrs, and includes the alloy protection
- though not obvious from their site I called them and they can offer the product as a 3rd party broker, and not only to their leasing customers
- they can set up a policy once you have a registration #
http://www.gmcleasing.co.uk/smartpro...-insurance.php

I thought this would be useful for anyone interested in buying this 3rd party. For myself, I'm not sure the extra £200 for rims cover is worthwhile so I will probably just go with the base SMART through car2cover

Shrek, interesting to hear your experience which didn't sound promising. For me as I will have quite a tight parking space on a daily basis it makes sense to insure against life's little knocks!

Devlin

[Mulski]

Okay, following on from the positive post above, on the day the guy turned up to do the work it all turned to RAG Sh!t. SMART insurance subcontract their work to 'Shine' a UK mobile paint repair company.

WARNING! Firstly some context; SMART insurance have changed their Policy wording (around Dec 09/Jan 10) and now no longer cover dents (regardless of size) on bonnets, roof, and boot lids.

Anyway, this 'Shine' guy turns up and before 'hello's' were even exchanged, he starts off with "I've looked at your car mate and we don't do dents on bonnets - you ain't covered for that" WTF!!! After showing him the policy doc, he says he will look at any other chips, but not the bonnet. Promptly told him to b*g off and called SMART.

Long story short; after numerous emails and calls, SMART agreed that my policy was different to their current wording but the best they would offer was to give me £195 to sort the bonnet myself, but they would do the other chips on the bumper (wow all 4 of them)

Took the car to 'Chips Away', who not only repaired the bonnet, but also a stone chip in the left rear wheel (happened on the same journey down the M40). Anyway, Chips Away did a superb job all in for £140.

Another Shine Guy turned up this morning to do the remaining chips (as was agreed) and to be fair his attitude was far better than the previous pr*t, and he did a good job.

According to my local Audi dealer, SMART have assured them that anyone with the previous policy wording will be covered by SMART; however their standard approach to this is to pay you to sort it rather than doing the job themselves.

Next time I buy, I'm going to drop the SMART insurance and just take out my own.

Cheers

[shmee150]

Thanks for the heads up Mulski. I removed all of GAP insurance, SMART, and AutoGlym from my order yesterday, all seem to just be money making for the dealership and not as good as alternatives you can find around.

Cheers,

Tim